Sunday, September 30, 2012

This annual event features speakers and exhibitions, focusing mainly on fine press books and printing. The symposium on Friday is already full, but talks on Saturday and Sunday morning are open to the public. The fine press exhibition and sale is open Saturday and Sunday afternoon; exhibitors listed for this year include Ladies of Letterpress and PCB member Thomas Parker Williams.

Oak Knoll Books, seller and publisher of books about books, is open during the Fest and offers a 20% discount on all books from Friday through Monday. The store has many rare and hard-to-find volumes, and is worth a visit itself.

New Castle is a charming colonial town about an hour’s drive from Philadelphia, the perfect setting for this celebration of the art of fine press books.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

The Next Chapter: Rare Books in Modern Times

Presented by the Conservation Center for Art & Historic ArtifactsNovember 13 & 14, 2012Philadelphia, PAHosted and co-sponsored by:American Philosophical SocietyMillions of books are contained in 21st-century libraries, museums, archives, and special collections. Those defined as rare may be historically significant, scarce, unusual or innovative in format, or otherwise unique. The evolution from handwritten text to printed volume and digital page is indicative of cultural and intellectual growth and parallels improvements in the use and care of books. The book in modern times is a source of knowledge and a work of art. This two-day program will explore the definition of the rare book within the context of its physical history and current preservation concerns. Presenters will also address ways to engage the public with rare book collections in conservation work and exhibition planning.Topics will include: * Identification and description of historical bindings * Preservation priorities and conservation issues for rare books in the digital age * Digitization selection * Objectives in targeting volumes for conservation treatment * Rare book exhibition planning and interpretationThis program is intended for collections care staff responsible for photographic collections, such as librarians, archivists, curators, collections managers, stewards of historic house museums, and records managers.Speakers:Maria FredericksDrue Heinz Book Conservator, The Morgan Library & MuseumJanet GertzDirector of Preservation and Digital Conversion Division, Columbia University LibrariesJim HinzDirector of Book Conservation, Conservation Center for Art & Historic ArtifactsMichael InmanCurator of Rare Books, The New York Public LibraryConsuela (Chela) MetzgerConservator of Library Collections, Winterthur Museum, Garden & LibraryJulia MillerConservator in Private PracticeSteve MillerProfessor & Coordinator, MFA in the Book Arts Program, School of Library & Information Studies, The University of AlabamaChristine NelsonDrue Heinz Curator of Literary and Historical Manuscripts and Head of Interpretive Strategy,The Morgan Library & MuseumWill NoelDirector, Special Collections Center, University of PennsylvaniaEric PumroyDirector of Library Collections and Seymour Adelman Head of Special Collections,Bryn Mawr CollegeProgram Fees:$225 CCAHA members$250 Non-membersMore information about this program and online registration is available atwww.ccaha.org/education/program-calendar.Major funding for this program was generously provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), with additional support from The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Independence Foundation, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.About CCAHAThe Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts (CCAHA) is the country's largest nonprofit conservation facility serving cultural, research and educational institutions, as well as individuals and private organizations. CCAHA's mission is to provide expertise and leadership in the preservation of the world's cultural heritage. CCAHA specializes in the treatment of works of art on paper, such as drawings, prints, maps, posters, historic wallpaper, photographs, rare books, scrapbooks, and manuscripts, along with related materials like parchment and papyrus. CCAHA also offers digital imaging services, on-site consultations, educational programs, fellowships, and emergency conservation services.For information on additional educational opportunities, visit www.ccaha.orgor find us on Facebook. KIMBERLY MAGYARPreservation Services Assistant264 S. 23RD STREETPHILADELPHIA, PA 19103t 215.545.0613 f 215.735.9313e KMAGYAR@CCAHA.ORG

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Crossing Borders: Manuscripts from the Bodleian Libraries

The Jewish Museum

1109 5th Avenue at 92nd St | New York | NY | 10128

September 14, 2012 - February 3, 2013

Crossing Borders features a superb selection of some sixty Hebrew, Latin, and Arabic manuscripts from the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries, one of the world’s richest collections of manuscripts and printed books related to medieval European Jewish culture. The manuscripts, many of them exquisitely illuminated, illustrate the fertile exchanges among Christians, Muslims, and Jews in the fields of religion, art, science, and literature. Included is one of the Bodleian's greatest treasures: the magnificent Kennicott Bible. Many of the works in the exhibition are on view in the United States for the first time.

Playing through Oct. 6 at Montgomery Theater, 124 N. Main St., Souderton. Tickets: $25-$37. Information: 215-723-9984 or www.montgomerytheater.org. From Oct. 9 through Nov. 4, the show will run at Act II Playhouse, 56 E. Butler Ave., Ambler.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Minnesota Center for Book Arts: Call for Artist’s Books

Deadline – ongoing

Minnesota Center for Book Arts is actively seeking new
artist’s books for consignment in its retail store.

Minnesota Center for Book Arts reviews book artists interested
in selling work through the shop on a rolling basis. This is a great
opportunity for both establish and emerging artists to display and sell their
work. Consignments are 60/40 (artists retaining 60% of sales) and checks are
issues to artists on a quarterly basis.

Submissions are accepted and juried on an on-going basis.

To be considered, please e-mail a description of your work
(including the price) a brief bio, and digital images of the work to MCBA’s
Consignment Manager, Elizabeth Carls at bcarls@mnbookarts.org.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Publishing
Opportunity/Call for Contributors: Handmade at the Library

Jessica Pigza is hard at work on an exciting new book
project that combines her two loves: libraries and craft.

Tentatively titled Handmade
at the Library, the book will be published by STC Craft|Melanie FalickBooks. It is a crafter’s library companion, and in it there will be tips on how
you can make the most of the libraries’ unique and historic collections in
person and online.

Each project will highlight the rich potential that awaits
within research libraries’ unique collections – which is where you come in.

Pigza is looking for talented working crafters interested in
creating project tutorials for Handmade
at the Library.

The ideal contributor’s work reflects a modern re-imagining
of craft traditions, a fresh interpretation of vintage design, or an affinity
for the history of the printed word.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Entries are now being accepted for several Women's Studio Workshop Residency Grants. These grants provide time and space where artists can come to work with 24-hour access to the studios, onsite and adjacent housing and technical advice and support.

A WSW Residency is supported by our technical and artistic staff that
is readily available to coach, train, and assist artists on all aspects
of their projects. This active engagement allows artists to work across
mediums, integrating new processes and materials into their work, and
to gain new levels of mastery in specific disciplines.

Art-in-Education Book Arts Residency Grant: 8-10
week residency focused on creating a limited edition artist’s book,
while also working with students during our Art-in-Education program. learn more >
Deadline: November 15

Legacy Artists Residency Grant: 6 weeks working in any printmaking studio to create a new body of work. learn more >
Deadline: April 1

Ora Schneider Residency Grant for Regional Artists: month long residencies for regionally based artists. learn more >
Deadline: October 15Studio Residency Grant: 6-8 weeks working in any of WSW’s studio areas to create a new body of work. learn more >
Deadline: April 1

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

From Seneca Falls to Philadelphia: Fourth of July 1876 and the Women of the Centennial

As part of Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts 2013, the Athenaeum of Philadelphia and Philadelphia Center for the Book are seeking artists, through the medium of the book, to explore and respond to prints and books in the Athenaeum's extensive collection regarding the Centennial, Susan B. Anthony, Women's Suffrage, and the 1876 4th of July. The books created will be exhibited in the Athenaeum gallery in April - May during the Festival in a show titled From Seneca Falls to Philadelphia: Fourth of July 1876 and the Women of the Centennial.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Artists' Books: Creative Structures

Opening This Saturday September 8, Today, Monday, Sept. 10 the Philadelphia Center for the Book, in conjunction with Allens Lane Art Center, presents a juried exhibition that highlights some of the best book artists in our region.Note: Correction to the original date. Allens Lane Art Center weekend hours are by appointment only so the official opening of the exhibition is today. Gallery Hours are Monday-Friday 10am to 5pm. The Gallery is Free and Open to the Public.

Allen's Lane Art Center

601 West Allens Lane

Philadelphia, PA 19119

p: 215.248.0546

The show will run Sept. 10 - Oct. 26, 2012

Highlights of the Event include:

Saturday Night Gallery Cocktail Reception and Fundraiser

Sept. 22, 2012 from 7-9:30 pm

Cost: $25 per person

Patrons will get a chance to meet the exhibiting artists (when available)

Children's Workshop (ages 8-12): Tunnel Books

Instructor: Jamie Lynn Schilling

Saturday, October 13, 2012, 2-4 pm

Tunnel books are inventive structures that are viewed all at once, from front to back, to create a dimensional scene. In this workshop participants will use a template to design and make their own tunnel books based on the world around them - real or imagined.

The workshop will start with a slideshow of tunnel books by contemporary book artists and other children. Students will participate in a fun, multi-disciplinary brainstorm to generate content for their books. They will be shown the steps to assembling and creating the pages for their tunnel books, and will finish the pages using dry media such as crayons, pencils, markers and paper collage

The workshop will conclude with a half hour showing of the work, where students will have the opportunity to share and talk about their books in front of parents/caregivers.

Magic Books and Paper Toys with Esther K Smith

Saturday, October 20, 2012, 12-7 pm

Amaze your friends with an array of tricky book forms from a myriad of traditions: hexaflexigons, magic wallets, simple pop-ups, origami-based forms, exquisite corpses, woven pockets, animations, simplified tunnel books--even jewelry books.. Learn some of these easy structures, making quick models, and then make them into finished pieces using collage materials, stickers, buttons and beads, etc. And as part of the materials fee, get a copy of Magic Books & Paper Toys by Esther K. Smith to continue the fun at home.

$75 for Philadelphia Center for the Book members and Friends of the Allens Lane Art Center

Sunday, September 2, 2012

The American Bookbinders Museum, San Francisco

By way of introduction:

My name is Al Brown, and I’ve been a member of PCB for four years. I’m a retired technical writer and editor. You might say books and book arts are in my blood: my great grandfather was a Philadelphia bookbinder around the end of the 19th century. The marketing committee has asked me to help with the PCB blog, so here goes.

The highpoint of a recent trip to San Francisco was my visit to the American Bookbinders Museum; I was enthralled by its mix of book arts, technology, and social history. It chronicles the industrialization of bookbinding during the 19th century into the 20th century. On display are early versions of bookbinding machines, often along with the hand tools they replaced. The collection also includes illustrations, photos, operation manuals, business records, union contracts, and other papers from all over the country that chronicle how binderies operated.

The two parts of the museum’s collection complement each other in interesting ways. On the one hand, it shows how technological developments affected bookbinding. For example, book presses using levers instead of screws made it easier to apply greater pressure; they could withstand the force because they were made from cast iron instead of wood. The last process to be mechanized, sewing, was a special application of the sewing machine.

On the other hand, it raises the question: What was the impact of industrialization on the workers? Not surprisingly, the collection documents a lot of disruption. The organization of binderies changed as hand operations gradually vanished and workers were displaced. The mix of products changed as well.

We tend to look at books as objects or as the products of individual artistic inspiration or craft. A visit to the American Bookbinders Museum puts them into a more social, human context.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Printed Matter presents the seventh annual NY Art Book Fair, from September 28 to 30, at MoMA PS1, Long Island City, Queens. Free and open to the public, the NY Art Book Fair is the world's premier event for artists’ books, catalogs, monographs, periodicals, and zines presented by more than 260 international presses, booksellers, antiquarians, artists, and independent publishers from twenty-four countries.

Lucy Lippard and Paul Chan are the keynote speakers for this year’s Contemporary Artists’ Books Conference—a dynamic, two-day symposium on emerging practices and debates within art-book culture. The Classroom—a curated series of artist-led workshops, readings, and discussions—will engage visitors in lively conversation all weekend long. The NY Art Book Fair will also include special project rooms, screenings, book signings, and performances throughout the weekend.

A preview of the Fair will be held on the evening of Thursday, September 27, from 6 to 9 pm, featuring two free musical performances by Sun Foot, and Malcolm Mooney (original vocalist with Can). Sun Foot will release a picture-disc record featuring artwork by Stefan Marx to benefit Printed Matter.

Over 15,000 artists, book buyers, collectors, dealers, curators, independent publishers, and other enthusiasts attended the NY Art Book Fair in 2011.

Hours and LocationThe NY Art Book Fair is free and open to the public.